BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kaleb Feathers was the winning pitcher on Thursday for the Tennessee High Vikings, but the junior right-hander made sure that third baseman Brayln Price got major props in the aftermath of the victory.
“He had some great picks,” Feathers said. “We’re good friends outside of the game and I’m glad we get to be on the field together. He’s a great guy and played amazing today.”
Price made three tremendous plays at the hot corner and also ripped a RBI double as THS remained unbeaten with a 6-1 triumph over the Lebanon Pioneers at Tod Houston Field.
Price was right on the money as he continued a strong start to his senior season.
There was a sharp short-hopper he corralled, a slow-roller he charged and a backhanded stop on another hot shot.
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In total he made four assists with accurate throws to first baseman Isaac Blevins occurring after making each difficult play look routine.
“I work on those plays in practice a lot and have to translate that to the game,” Price said. “That’s when I’m at my best when I’m not even thinking about it.”
Tennessee High coach Preston Roberts wasn’t surprised at the showcasing of such fine fielding prowess.
“He’s just got great hands,” Roberts said. “Some of the best hands on the team, if not the best. He’s a senior that has by far paid his dues.”
Price was a role player for most of last season, but did get some playing time in the TSSAA Class AAA state tournament.
He has keyed a 6-0 start for Tennessee High this spring as one of the team’s hottest hitters and slickest fielders.
What has been the key?
“Believing in myself,” Price said. “I usually get too hard on myself, but now I’m confident at third base and confident at the plate. I’m confident I can produce.”
Meanwhile, the confidence never wavered for Feathers despite giving up a run, two hits and several hard-hit balls in the first inning as Lebanon (1-1) grabbed an early 1-0 lead.
“I came back in the dugout [after the top of the first inning] and my teammates told me to keep throwing strikes,” Feathers said. “They backed me up on defense.”
Feathers allowed just three hits after the first inning and struck out six in going the distance. He retired the final eight batters he faced and ended the game with back-to-back Ks.
His change-up gave Lebanon problems.
“He showed great composure on the mound,” Roberts said. “He earned the start today and he took advantage of it. We have a lot of great arms and we had faith him. We weren’t necessarily expecting him to go the whole game, but we decided to let him finish and he did.”
Zach Hertig and Seth Buchanan – occupying the top two spots in Lebanon’s batting order – each had two hits. The other hit for the Pioneers was a double from Jacob Crabtree, while Hertig scored the lone run on Dagan Barton’s sacrifice fly in the first inning.
“I thought we swung the bats really well early on,” said first-year Lebanon coach Cody Compton. “I felt like as the game went on, we kind of went flat with the bats. That was the biggest difference today.”
It didn’t help that Price prevented Lebanon from getting more baserunners.
“He made some great plays,” Compton said. “I told him to save it for the conference, but he didn’t listen to me.”
The pitching is currently ahead of the hitting for Lebanon it seems as the Pioneers managed just three hits in a 3-2 win over Virginia High on Tuesday.
Nathan Phillips struck out five in a complete-game effort for Lebanon and wasn’t helped by a defense that committed three errors.
The Pioneers are the favorites in the Virginia High School League’s smallest classification this season, so it qualified as a quality victory for the Tennesseans.
“Probably the best all-around game we’ve played this year, probably against the best team we’ve played this year,” Roberts said. “They look the part and I know they returned a lot of guys from last season. I looked at my watch whenever we recorded that last out and it was an hour and 25 minutes. That just tells you it was two good teams with two good arms throwing strikes.”
Ashton Leonard and Rylan Henard recorded two hits apiece for Tennessee High, while Gage Graziano and Price smashed back-to-back run-scoring doubles in the fifth inning.
The two teams will play again today at 6 p.m. in Lebanon.
The sure-handed Price will take his spot at third base with his golden glove.
“He’s done nothing but improve and I’m really proud of him,” Roberts said. “He’s quiet about his business and doesn’t get too up or too down.”